Atlanta Journal Newspaper - 10/02/1989
By Steve Dollar

Film Notes Billy Wirth puts convictions into his acting by playing a Blackfoot Indian In War Party

Billy Wirth admits he was never a film buff. "But I saw the movies and believed them," recalls the 27 year old actor, who now has to make audiences believe he's a Blackfoot Indian in the new film "War Party".

Mr.Wirth, who began modeling while attending Brown University in Providence, R.I., slipped into performing after being encouraged to read a monologue from William Inge's "The Dark at the top of the Stairs."

I was a very shy kid, "he says, chatting over coffee and the strains of "Bali Ha'I" in the piano lounge of the Buckhead Hotel. I was very afraid of showing emotions in front of people." All that changed; Mr. Wirth got the acting bug, took some classes at Brown, found an agent and landed himself a spot on a Diet Pepsi commerical. That was followed by a part as a teen nosferatu in the MTV-meet-Dracula thriller "The Lost Boys" and the lead in Hendale's drama "War Party."

The film which opened friday, is both a cautionary drama and an old fashioned action flick. Set in the contemporary West, it addresses racial tensions as a group of young Blackfoot Indians clash with belligerent whites in the Montana foothill, sparked by a historic battle re-enactment that turns horrifyingly real. Mr. Wirth, whose mother is part-Indian, campaigned to be cast in the role - in part because it elevated American Indians above cliche. I liked the action, but I also liked the way it portrayed Indians, showing them as people with emotions and real feelings, "the actor says." You know, the kind of life that they have, rather than (seeing) a lot of running around in war paint."

The movie has its share of that, too, but it's presented as ironic and it's balanced by a racial messaage. "Unless different people come to understand each other, "Mr. Wirth says, the inevitable result is a bad scene." We've got to understand that we're all the same. We've got to learn to work together."

The actor also seen as Singer Eddie Tempest on CBS's Wiseguy, "has learned a few lessons as well during his 2 1/2 year residence in LA. He's angling for projects to produce and writing songs. And he probably spends a lot more time revving up his Harley - Davidson than chasing the spotlight. the reason I'm doing publicity is I have a movie out, "he says downplaying his recent US Magazine photo spread with red-hot "Road House" star Kelly Lynch." I really don't care about becoming famous."